The N1 launch vehicle, developed in the 1960's, was to be the Soviet Union's counterpart to the
Saturn V. The largest of a family of launch vehicles that were to replace the ICBM-derived launchers
then in use, the N series was to
launch Soviet cosmonauts to the moon, to Mars and Venus, and place huge
military space stations into orbit. In comparison to Saturn, the project was started late, starved of
funds and priority, and dogged by political and technical struggles between the chief designers
Korolev, Glushko, and Chelomei. The end result was four launch failures and cancellation of the project
five years after Apollo landed on the moon. Not only did a Soviet cosmonaut never land on the moon, but
the Soviet Union even denied that the huge project ever existed.
(Courtesy. Mark Wade)